Meant to be brave
by laced with nitroglycerin
Summary: Daltonverse. Post Ep26 Part3. Everyone's looking for Dwight and Laura eventually finds him... up a tree - and he's on the verge of tears. Pairing: Dwight/Laura FRIENDSHIP. One-shot


**This idea just sort of came to me as I was reading through some Dwight facts on the Warblerland website. I love the relationship Laura and Dwight have non-romantically, although that could just be because I want to be Dwight's romantic pairing. Hm. **

**Anyway, some hurt/comfort post ep26 part3. Enjoy!**

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><p>Laura stopped in the middle of the path she was walking and huffed, waving her arms in the air and slamming them down by her sides in annoyance. She winced as her sore palms slapped against her legs, the faint memories of many splinters spiking her flesh painfully. It had been two weeks since the 'accident' as everyone was calling it, although everyone knew that it was far from it. A lot of people were still injured, lying in a hospital bed or their dorm, and those not were quietly mourning-<p>

No. Don't think about that.

She lifted her arms up, resting her hands on her hips and walked forwards a few steps, looking out across the grounds of Dalton. She saw the charred remains of the Art Hall in sight and began to bite her bottom lip gently. Rumours were spreading around of Dalton closing, parents pulling their children from it, news reporters being so desperate for information that they were almost cornering students for an interview- the school was determined to remain as safe as possible now, but it was almost horrible.

She scuffed her shoe against the dark tarmac and sighed, blinking harshly to rid the image from her mind. Laura crossed the edge of the path and made her way across the grass of a field. She saw David in the distance, calling out a familiar name and she knew that Shane was also miserably searching for the missing boy.

"Dwight!" She called out, deciding to at least try one more time. She walked further across the school field, shouting his name again but when she received no reply, Laura simply made her way to the nearest tree and fell down next to it. She leant her back against the rough back, ignoring the slight pain there too and brought her knees up to her chest.

"Dwight, where are you?" She said to herself, head still but eyes searching the school for jet black hair.

"Up here," A soft voice called out from above her. She blinked and smiled slowly to herself.

"God?" She asked, concealing a laugh as she mimicked the boy. Something light hit her on the top of the head and she watched a balled-up leaf roll down her shoulder.

Without saying another word, Laura stood and tilted her neck to find Dwight sitting quite high in the tree, leaning against the trunk with one leg bent, the other dangling from the branch. He tilted the corner of his mouth upwards in what was meant to be a smile and Laura reached out in front of her, gripping the lowest branches and heaving herself up. She put her foot in a small hole in the tree which helped her to get up and then it was easy to just climb the rest of the branches.

Once she reached his height, Dwight held out a hand to help her up. She took both of his and quickly jumped onto the nearest easy seating point in the tree. Squeezing his hands briefly in gratitude, Laura let go and settled herself against the bark in an effort to get comfortable.

There was an easy silence before Laura said gently, "All the Windsor boys are looking for you."

"Oh."

She watched him carefully. There was an almost unreadable expression on his face, but Dwight was just staring straight ahead with a small crease in the middle of his forehead. Laura sighed.

"Any reason you're up a tree?"

Dwight shrugged and said, "Not really. I just like climbing trees."

Laura pretended to act shocked, "So you're not performing an exorcism up here?"

Dwight smiled again and although there was a trace of sadness in it, she was glad to see it.

There was another silence and Dwight's smile faded and he cast his eyes down. Laura could tell he was thinking about something and she watched shamelessly, trying to figure it out herself.

"It wasn't your fault," She said, "None of it was your fault."

Dwight opened his mouth slightly as he exhaled and he paused, swallowing. He pressed his eyes closed for a second before saying, "I was meant to be brave."

"Wha- Dwight!" Laura replied, shuffling so she had both her legs over the same side of the branch and was looking directly at his profile, "You _ran_ in there, grabbed an extinguisher and single-handedly tried to put out a fire that extended over the whole first floor of the art block... That _is_ brave."

"It didn't matter though," He said, speaking quietly, "It didn't help in the slightest."

"For all you know it prolonged the time everyone had up there," Laura said, worry in her eyes. She bit on her bottom lip again because this person wasn't Dwight. Not the Dwight she knew anyway.

"I passed out," He said, voice becoming slightly monotone, "Would Logan have passed out? Would Ethan, or Evan?"

He sighed again.

"I had to be rescued."

Laura surveyed him and felt hopeless. She had no idea if what she was saying was helping, but she wanted to give it a shot. So she inhaled slowly and quietly said, "Dwight, you can't expect to have saved everyone. The whole building was on fire, anyone would've passed out in that kind of smoke."

She watched him swallow heavily and the realisation hit her that he was on the verge of tears. She'd never seen him this...disappointed in himself before.

"I just- I just _wish_ I could've. I'm meant to be- _The White Knight-" _He said the name louder, dragging it out and he turned to look at Laura, "And I can't even..."

He trailed off and turned back around to stare out across the grounds.

Laura stopped biting her lip and let out a tiny exhale of laughter. She looked at him and said, "Dwight, if it helps, I think you were the bravest one in there." He turned to look at her, an eyebrow raised, but there was a hint of hope in his eyes. "And I think you definitely helped everyone, and bought them more time. Plus, you had this hunch for how long before? And while maybe no one believed you, you stuck by it, and you found things out. You teamed up with me-" She smiled, a look Dwight reciprocated. "-And we exposed him. I think that deserves a medal as big as our faces and all the hunting gear you could desire."

She gestured to the belt that was draped loosely around his waist, but still held a small spray half-full of holy water, a container of rock salt and a few throwing stars concealed in a pouch which she knew of. Dwight looked down and his smile widened ever so slightly.

"Now, I wish I could spout some beautiful quote from Alice in Wonderland, but I haven't read the book in years," She continued, "Plus, that's sort of the twins area of expertise. All I will say is, everyone is proud of you. You're the youngest they have and you still kicked ass."

"You think?" Dwight asked, mouth turning into a little smirk. Laura nodded, her lips pressed together.

"I know."

There was a small pause and Dwight sniffed. "Well, I suppose spirits won't take care of themselves."

"And I think people will also be wondering where I am by now," Laura said, "I am, after all, one of the only two girls here."

Dwight began to move, bringing his legs up on the branch so he could stand and Laura did the same. She carefully manoeuvred her way down the tree, step by step and gripped tightly onto the branches. When at the lowest one, which was still a good 5 and a half foot from the ground, she hesitated.

There was a whoosh from beside her, and Dwight jumped from a few branches higher, landing on the floor expertly in a small pounce. Laura raised an eyebrow as he straightened up, dusted the dirt from his hands and smiled at her, extending his own. She grabbed his and jumped down easily, making sure to not get her red shorts muddy.

Once she'd straightened up, Dwight nodded at her."Thanks," He said.

"No problem," Laura replied and watched as Dwight extended a hand. She looked at it for a second before laughing and throwing herself on him.

"Wo-" Dwight exclaimed as the girl tightened her arms around him in a big hug. He found his balance and after hovering his hands uselessly for a second, awkwardly patted her back. She squeezed him for another second before letting go and taking a step back, grinning almost foolishly.

"Sorry, but after you nearly died and all, I thought that was appropriate." Now Laura extended her hand and Dwight took it cautiously, shaking slowly. "It was a pleasure working with you. I hope we can do it again."

Dwight nodded and she smiled once move before retracting her hand and turning around. She began to walk back across the field, towards the path once again but before she was out of earshot, she turned around, pointing at him and yelled, "Oh, and I left my email, because-" She pointed between herself and Dwight now, still walking backwards, "-We need to do some crime busting!"

With that, she fist pumped the air and turned around again, running. Dwight watched her technicolour outfit disappear around the corner of the building. He narrowed his eyes, shaking his head slightly before a small smile crept on his face and he began to slowly walk in an opposite direction towards the Windsor house.

Reed would wake up any day now. Julian's scars would heal. Blaine and Kurt would transfer, but that would be okay, because they'd be together, and happy. And Dalton would live on because crazy things happened, but in the end, the boys there always knew how to fix it.

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><p><strong>I had a cheesy ending, I know, I know, shush. Thank you for reading though, and drop a review if you'd like to.<strong>


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